overdrive

play

noun over·drive \ ˈō-vər-ˌdrīv \

Definition of overdrive

1 :an automotive transmission gear that transmits to the drive shaft a speed greater than engine speed

2 :a state of heightened activity

going into rhetorical overdrive

See overdrive defined for English-language learners

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Examples of overdrive in a Sentence

He put the car into overdrive.
His acting career is in overdrive.
The reporters went into overdrive to finish their stories on time.

Recent Examples of overdrive from the Web

Ally and Ivy are devastated by the election results, so much that Ally's fear of clowns kicks into overdrive.

— christopher rosa, Glamour, "A Donald Trump Supporter Terrorizes a Lesbian Couple in the First 'American Horror Story: Cult' Trailer," 22 Aug. 2017
What many don’t know, however, is that Tech N9ne helped put Lamar’s career into overdrive.

— aaron randle, kansascity, "Chiefs, Tech N9ne and more: The six ways Kendrick Lamar is connected to Kansas City," 15 Aug. 2017
REM sleep is a deeper sleep, but one in which the brain goes into overdrive.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "Snooze you can use: Sleep is important, so dreams must be, too, right?," 12 July 2017
Zwiebel and his team are working on a class of compounds they’ve discovered called excito-repellents that work by pushing the insect olfactory system into overdrive.

— kyle frischkorn, Smithsonian, "Studying Ant “Noses” Could Lead to Better Bug Repellents," 12 July 2017
Their first physical interaction, a simple handshake, enacted shortly before the meeting and discreetly captured by a German government camera, sent body-language experts into overdrive.

— isobel thompson, The Hive, "The Curious Case of the Putin-Trump Summit," 7 July 2017
Like the thyroid, these can sometimes run on overdrive too, resulting in hyperparathyroidism.

— dr. manny alvarez, Fox News, "Are you suffering from a parathyroid condition?," 4 July 2017
A shot of sulforaphane kicks the creation of those oxidants into overdrive, bolstering at the cellular level the body's capacity to resist a wide range of malfunctions.

— jonathan m. pitts, baltimoresun.com, "Like it or not, broccoli is good for you, research says," 30 June 2017
Ever since the pair was spotted cozying up together at Cannes Film Festival earlier this spring, the gossip mill has been in overdrive with speculations that Bella and Scott might be dating.

— de elizabeth, Teen Vogue, "Bella Thorne and Scott Disick Continue to Hang Out, Sources Say," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'overdrive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of overdrive

1926

OVERDRIVE Defined for English Language Learners

overdrive

play

noun

Definition of overdrive for English Language Learners

: a gear in an automobile that allows it to be driven at higher speeds
: a state of great activity especially in order to achieve something

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